The Making of a Great Magazine Cover

By Stacy Kunstel, homes editor

Our Online and Market Editor Lynda Simonton (she actually does a whole lot more than that it seems) told us all today that our 10^th anniversary September cover was attracting some amazing online attention. Lynda says, “This is more engagement than any other project I can remember posting. Without a doubt that home strikes a chord with our online community!”

Photography by Michael Partenio

So I ask myself what was it about that image? It’s atypical for shelter magazines to put exteriors of houses on their covers and when we have in the past I’ve sometimes cringed. It’s never that they are unattractive, it’s just that my preference tends to favor furnishings, art and pillows above columns, decks and windows.

There are a few things about this image that you just can’t recreate. Namely, photographer Michael Partenio was able to shoot the house from the balcony of the guesthouse, capturing the structure in its entirety. The gambrel end almost leads us to think that we’re looking at the front of the home, as it is so detailed. The photographer also had such an advantageous angle that we don’t see too much roof, which would happen with most exteriors from this position.

The pool, the bocce court, and the ocean view add to the aura and story of what this is, but I haven’t even mentioned that on the single day we had to shoot this the weather also cooperated! It wasn’t a perfect sky day, but it was still pretty darn good. Oh, and the landscaping was great, well manicured yet full with a few hydrangea still in bloom and perfect window boxes—all of these aspects go into the making of a great photo. Kudos to architect Patrick Ahearn and builder Peter Rossbeck for a fantastic job too!

It’s worth it to see the whole house, which you can see on newsstands now or read the article online. Just look for the beautiful exterior on the cover!